Articles

Well where to start oh yeah, it was only the most incredible gig that I ve ever been too! Muse are always fantastic live but it really was something special being so close to the front. I stood in a random queue at the Eden sound stage that appeared with minimal prompting for literally hours for the privilege. But it was well worth it when you find yourself jumping incredibly high to plug in baby mid set with about 5,000 people all around you doing exactly the same. Muses set took bloody years to set up (well it felt like that) but after the cough appalling support bands had done their thing and the long wait for the stage to be set up as well as a really drunk middle aged guy shouting your crap to the techies and shouting about, among other things, pirates, rum and absolution! But it was well worth enduring such tortures to finally see Muse.

The first support band who for the life of me I cant remember the name of, even though they had Dom from Muse and some other people walk past with a banner proclaiming their name. Apparently the band where actually chosen by Muse out of about 100 local Cornish bands! Although actually being quite talented with their instruments and having the odd quite catchy song they sucked live! With a bassist who I swear was on speed as he looked totally out of it and was struggling to stand up or focus on anything but could actually still play some quite tricky looking bass. The two lead singers who seemed undecided as to who was actually the lead, as theyd take it in turns to sing the lead for a song. As well as some real stupid and occasionally offensive banter between songs, drinking and smoking on stage. At one point the lead guitarist offered the lead singer a fag while he was meant to be singing which he accepted and stopped singing, as well as some dumb guitar playing with the guys teeth and getting tangled up in his own guitar lead as well as the lamest stage jump youve seen in your life! Maybe they though it was rock n roll I just thought it was a poor performance. Anyway the moral of that story is that if youre given a great opportunity to play a big gig then dont screwed it up! At least thats how I saw it maybe they made a few fans, who knows?

The second support band Nixon and the burn had some mental shouty songs yet actually seemed less talented with their instruments but where a cough better known band, maybe signed not sure? Anyway I remember one of their songs was basically about carrots and I actually quite liked that one it had a good riff in it and showed that the guitarist could actually play instead of it being a bass driven song like most of their other songs. I actually found their myspace and they dont sound too bad recorded but again they kind of sucked live.

Anyway the main event, the reason we where all there and probably the reason your reading this! Started several hours after the second support band had finished as they had to test and re-test the sound levels and equipment etc (Matt Bellamy being a mega perfectionist and all). As well as set up quite an elaborate projection system onto some tiled white screens and the stage piano, which was actually really cool and well worth the wait in the end! The music that they had been playing while we where waiting which was frankly a random mix suddenly went silent and a big roar of anticipation spilled out from the crowd. Muse appeared out of the mist and the crowd went mental as they opened with the brilliant knights of cydonia with the first session of crazy jumping at the incredible guitar riff towards the end of the song. After that the actual order of the set gets a little hazy as my adrenaline rush started and everyone was pushing and shoving to get to the front with a lot of scared looking 12 year olds getting crushed in the process (good knows how they got to the front in the first place) and my natural instinct to stay alive kicked in. Especially when a full on mosh pit appeared behind me with some severely pissed off guys in there, at one point I saw a guy pick out his target and then full on spear/charge him into the crowd (didnt see them again). I even saw the first support band in the crowd in front of me and they where pricks then too!

Highlights of the rest of the gig include love it or hate it Super massive black hole which rocked! With some robotic dancing in the crowd and purple lips projected onto the tiled screens wording out Super massive black hole to the chorus, it was ever so camp! Feeling good when Matt chucked a load of confetti while playing the stage piano and using the good old megaphone. Hysteria, Stockholm syndrome and as Ive mentioned Plug in baby rocked very hard! Butterflies and hurricanes is a beautiful song to hear live and old school unintended and showbiz where a pleasant surprise to the set, letting me catch my breath in the strategically placed slower songs. I cant remember much of what was being projected on the screens as I was concentrating on the music and staying upright but I do remember at one point there was a figure wrapped in something pressed up against the screen it was rather bizarre. Later on in the set Matt sustained a note and lent against one of the tiled screens for about 4 mins while Dom and Chris went off to get water it was quite funny. Awhile after that Muse appeared to have finished their set (as the disappeared) only to come back on after the crowd demanded more to play a further 3 more songs (at this point I was totally exhausted after having been stood up and jumping around for around 6-7 hours). After the gig finished I could barely walk but it was well worth it!

Thats not to say that I wasnt paying attention to the set or anything but when youre jumping around and you love every song its a tad hard to recall the whole set in total and exact order. But overall it was a top notch gig from a top notch band who in my option are one of the best British bands out there at the moment and I cant wait to see what crazy stuff they come up with next.